Kitchen-cabinet.



F. Goss.'

KITCHEN CABINET.

APPUCATION FILED MAR..\. 1915.

l ,299, 129 Patented Deo. 19, 19l6.

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:FRANKA coss, or GnnEN'cAsrLn, INDIANA, AssIeNonl To ivrcnoUeALL COMPANY, or

FRANKFURT, INDIANA', A CORPORATION O'E lZIIQIIANl-l.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented-Dec. 19, 1916.

Application led March 1, 19.15.'v Serial No. 11,279.

Tol all' whom t may concern :Bel it known that I, FRANK Goss, a citizen of the United States, residing at Greencastle, Putnam county, and State of Indiana, have invented and' discovered certain new and'A useful Improvements in Kitchen- Cabinets, of which the following is a specifi'cation.v

My invention relates to kitchen cabinets and its object is toI provide means whereby a rolling curtain employed to close the front of the cabinet may be so mounted as to be readily accessible from the front of the cabinet for repair or replacement, means whereby such curtain when retracted will occupy space atthe base only of the superstructure of the cabinet, and means of a simple and effective character for closing the horizontal space between the top edge of the curtain e and the floor of the cabinet compartment when the curtain is retracted and the compartment open.

Withthese objects' and others. in view, my invention is embodied in preferable form 2,5 in the construction and arrangement hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In these drawings,` Figure 1 isa front view in. elevation of a part of a kitchen cabinet showing particularly the flexible rolling curtain included in my invention; Fig, 2, av vertical section Fig. 3, an enlarged detail vertical section on the: line 3--3fof Fig. 4; Fig.. 4, a-plan view, partly broken away of the bottomivof the compartment and Fig.y 5, a vertical detail section'of the auto-matic catch for the closing curtain.

Referringvto the drawings, 1 designates the walls of a compartment of a kitchen cabinet` and 2 are guidinggrooves formed by strips 3 on the vertical side walls of the cabinet and adapted to receive the ends of the slats of a sliding flexible curtain 4 which is adapted to close the compartment `and whichl is movable fromv the bottom thereof to the upper end ofthe cabinet to close said opening and to automatically engage a catch at the upper end of thecompartment and which is adapted to automatically drop intorfolded positionfto `leave the compartment open when the kcatch is released.V The catch consists of Va plate 5 mounted inthe upper edge of the compartmentsand on which plate is mounted a hori- Zontally sliding catchmember 6 which has a rear tongue 7 projecting. through the rear wall of the plate, said tonguebeing surrounded-by a spring 8 which serves to press the catch member forward into engaging position. The. catch member is provided with a horizontal hook 9 having an inclined under edge which hook is adapted toy be engagedby a hasp, 10 carried by a plate secured to an upper cross strip 11`ofv the curtain and which hasp is adaptedy to be projected through a slot 12 in the bottom of the plate 5.y Theforward end of the sliding catch member has a push button 13, which projects through a frontV vertical flange. of the'plate 5 and by means of which the catch is adapted to be pushed inwardly to. release the .hasp and permit the curtain to fall by gravity' into itsv4 receiving recess below the floor of the compartment.

14 is a hand grip secured on the upper cross strip 11 of the lcurtain and which hand ,grip isl adapted to project below the lower edgel ofsaid strip and to contactwith a rubber cushioningrbutton 15 when the curtain dropsdown thereby preventing contajetY ofthe upper` crossstrip of the curtain with the base of the compartment and lessening the noise and shock of contact of the curtain againstV the part which stops its movement.

In my invention the curtain when in folded or retracted position is adapted to occupy a recess or chamber confined wholly to, the base of the compartment, thus avoidingthe necessity ofV a special chamber at the back ofthe cabinet and also rendering the curtainmore readily accessible when it is desired to replace or repairthe same. To this end the grooves Qformed by strips 3 attached tothe vertical side walls of the compartmenty are open at their lower ends, the Y front stripV of each groove extending to a point a little lower than the end of the inner strip and a horizontal guide bar 16 extends from thel open end of the groove rearwardly on each side wallof the compartment. This bar is provided with an inwardly curved front edge 17 which meets the rear edge of the groove 3 so that the curtain will be guided easily under the bar as it passes from the grooves 3., The guide .bar extends between the lower and upper track rails 18 and' 19 of a bracket 2O which is secured to the side wall andwhich is curved at its rear end and near said rear end between thel twoy rails is provided with a roller 21 over which the curtain is adapted to pass. As the curtain moves downwardly it will pass'i'rom the grooves 2 into the space between the bar 16 and lower track rail 18 and then be guided back toward the front of the compartment by means of the rear curved end or the bracket, passing over the roller 21 and between the track rail 19 and the bar 16 so that the curtain moves back above and par allel to the lower stretch of the same. The front portion of the bar 16 is projected upwardly to pro-vide a stop head 22 which limits the forward movement of the end of the curtain. The outer guide groove strips 3 are separated from the bottom 23 of the compartment by a vertical space of a suiiicient length to permit the withdrawal of the curtain through said space above the bottom ot the compartment. This space is normally closed by a retaining and molding bar 24- extending across the compartment and detachably secured to the bottom thereof by means of screws 25. This bar is provided at each end with a curved rail bracket 26, the upper end ot which joins the outer strip 3 of the groove 2 and the lower end of which joins the lower track rail 18 of the racket 20. By this arrangement a curved track section between the termination of the groove 2 and the entrance to the track 18 is provided for the travel of the curtain and also the curtain Ais thereby prevented from escape through the space below the lower ends of the guide strips. The brackets 26 are in eiiect continuations of the guide rail strips 3 but are made separate therefrom and attached to the bar 24; in order that the curtain track may be opened to permit the withdrawal of the curtain; The bar 24 is provided with a central upwardly projecting rib 27 which, when the curtain is in lowered position, is adapted to almost close the space below the upper cross strip 11 of the curtain, although direct contact between strip and bar is prevented by the bearing of the hand grip member against therubber cushion on the bar 24C.

The chamber 28 in which the curtain is adapted to be folded in two horizontal stretches thereof is formed by and between the bottom loor 23 of the compartment and a iioor29 spaced vertically from thebottom, and resting upon the upper track rails 19 of the bracket 20. This oor lies just above the upper face of the cross strip 11 of the rolling curtain when the latter is lowered. In order to close the space between the upper strip of the curtain and the front edge of the fixed floor 29 when the curtain is down and the compartment open, the said floor is provided at its front edge with a hinged flap or apron 30 adapted to form a level and horizontal continuation of the floor when said curtain is down. 31 are the hinges upward passage of the curtain.

connecting this apron with the floor, The apron is recessed at 32 at its ends to permit it to fit the guide groove strips 3 on the walls of the cabinet. At its central portion on its front edge said apron is also provided with a curved recess 33 into which projects the upwardly extending hasp 1() when the curtain is folded down into its chamber. rEhe apron extends forwardly to Ya line flush with the forward edges of the walls of the compartment and hence lies over and against the upper face of the upper cross strip 11 of the curtain when the latter is down. rlhis apron thus serves, as an effective covering and protecting means for the horizontal space between the top oil the curtain and the fixed floor of the compartment, thereby serving to efectually exclude dust and crumbs or other material that may collect on the iioor of the compartment and also gives a smooth, level iinish to the floor.

ln the use of the device, assuming that the curtain is down so as to uncover the compartment, it is adapted to be raised by grasping the hand grip and lifting the curtain, whereupon the upper cross strip 11 will bear against the apron 30, swinging the same on its hinges and permitting the free 1n this movement of the curtain, aswell as in the downward movement thereof, the apron will bear against the same in an inclined position. As the hasp on the upper cross strip passes through the slot in the catch plate 5, said hasp will automatically engage the spring pressed catch member 6 and the curtain will be retained in closing position. To release the curtain it is merely necessary to press in the push button 13, whereupon the hook or the sliding catch member will be released from the hasp and the curtain will be permitted to drop automatically into its horizontal receiving chamber. As the curtain descends, the hinged apron will iall down to horizontal position above the upper cross strip thereof, thus again closing the space between the floor and the curtain. The weight of the falling curtain will be suiiicient to carry it readily into the chamber and around the .roller and back to the front of the chamber again to form the two stretches. To remove the curtain for inspection or repair, it is merely necessary to remove the retaining and molding bar 2A whereupon a free space will be left below the ends of the groove strips 3, through which the curtain may be withdrawn.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim is 1. A kitchen cabinet having a compartment open at the front and a iexible vertically sliding curtain adapted to close the front of said compartment, the said compartment having a raised floor and a bottom below said floor providing a curtain receiv ing recess between them, the front edge of said iioor being spaced from the plane of the front of the compartment, and means separate from the curtain for excluding dust, etc., from said recess and mounted to provide a level continuation of the floor to close said space and automatically movable into and out of closing position as the curtain is moved below or above the same respectively.

2. A kitchen cabinet having a compartment open at its front and a` flexible vertically sliding curtain adapted to cover said compartment, said cabinet having a bottom and a floor above the bottom providing a curtain-receiving recess between them prolonged rearwardly from the front of the compartment and adapted to receive the curtain in horizontal stretches, said ioor having its front edge spaced from the front plane of the compartment, a section hinged to the said floor and providing a Hush level forward continuation thereof and said curtain having a rigid member at its upper end adapted to adjoin the lower face of the section when the curtain is down and to cooperate therewith to close the spaces between the floor and curtain and the floor and bottom, respectively.

3. A kitchen cabinet having a compartment and a sliding flexible curtain adapted to cover and uncover said compartment; a vertical track in front of said compartment for said curtain, said compartment having a horizontal bottom and a floor above said bottom forming a rearwardly prolonged chamber between them to receive said curtain in horizontal stretches, means to stop said curtain when in retracted position with its upper edge in alinement with the lower face of said floor, a space closing apron hinged behind said vertical track to the front edge of said floor and extending forward in level horizontal continuation of the iioor above the top face of the curtain when the latter is down and adapted to be automatically swung up and back as the curtain is raised.

4:. In av kitchen cabinet provided with iioors spaced apart verticallyin its base providing a horizontal chamber extending from front to rear of the cabinet, a sliding flexiupper and lower horizontal floors extending from front to rear of the cabinet and providmg a chamber for receiving said curtain when retracted, horizontal track means in said chamber for said curtain, a horizontal removable bar extending across the cabinet between said {ioors and closing the front end of said chamber, said bar having at each end thereof track means joining said vertical and horizontal track means and forming a continuation thereof, said bar being operable to retain the curtain in said chamber and to permit its withdrawal therefrom by the removal of the bar.

6. A kitchen cabinet having a compartment open at the front, a flexible vertically sliding curtain adapted to close the front of said compartment and openable by downward movement, said curtain when raised completely closing said compartment, and said compartment having a raised floor and a bottom below said floor providing a horizontal curtain-receiving recess between them, said recess forming the sole 'receiving space for the curtain when the same is lowered, and means in the side walls of said recess for supporting and guiding said curtain so that it lies in said recess in a plurality of superposed horizontal stretches when itis lowered to open the compartment.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Indianapolis, Indiana, this twenth-sixth day of February, A. D. nineteen hundred and fifteen. f

FRANK COSS. [L s] Witnesses:

A. C. RICE, H. P. DooLITTLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

